It had been much easier to fall asleep that night than I had expected given the tenderness of my taped ribs and the unfamiliar surroundings of the hospital. Perhaps I was just too tired to care. For the first night in a long time, I had a pleasant dream.

I couldn't remember what it had been when I awoke but a lingering feeling of happiness remained after, for once, completely untainted by thoughts of Edward. I blinked and opened my eyes and the blissful happiness disappeared. I closed my eyes and wished I could fall back a sleep and recapture the dream, but escape was never that easy.

"Bella." The voice was familiar but twisted with a mix of pain, anger, shock, and relief. It brought with it numerous memories, both happy and painful.

I did my best to keep any emotions out of my voice as I responded. "Edward," I said, without opening my eyes.

"Your alive!" he said, the pain and anger gone.

"Yes,"I said. No thanks to you, I added internally.

"Bella, I don't know what I would have done if anything had happened to you."

Funny, I thought, I didn't think you gave a damn whether I lived or died. Just more lies. I kept my eyes tightly shut and didn't respond.

"What were you thinking, going to that meadow? I said to be careful – to be safe!"

My eyes flew open. "So what – It's my fault that I got three broken ribs and my arm snapped in half?"

"Bella, that's not what I meant."

"I was thinking that I hurt, Edward. Your heart might have stopped but mine still beats and mine can still be broken." Tears were welling up in my eyes from the pain and anger that I had kept pent up inside me for far to long. "Even if you didn't actually love me, I think I've at least earned the respect to be told – by you – what you were planning to do. Even if all our time together was nothing but a game to you, I think I deserve that much."

Pain filled his expression at my words and I almost apologized but then I remembered the nightmares and cold and distant note that he had left for me. I gritted my teeth and refused to give in. "Bella, it wasn't a game. I did love you, more than I have ever loved anything.. I still do."

"Somehow, Edward," I said bitterly, "abandoning your 'soulmate', without notice, never to be heard from again, to the wrath of an insane vampire – all for my own good, of course – doesn't seem all that loving."

"This isn't entirely one-sided, you know. You nearly did the same thing last spring."

"That was different," I snapped.

"Was it?"

"Yes!" I said, pushing myself into a sitting position and then wincing.

"Bella?" Edward said worriedly.

I pushed his hands away. "Then, there were more important things at stake. Then, there was something to be gained by my sacrifice. This gained you nothing!" I closed my eyes and new tears streamed down courses already traced by the first ones. "And it may have lost us everything," I added more softly.

"I just wanted you to be safe," Edward said in a small voice.

"From what?" I said sharply, my eyes snapping to his face.

"From me."

"Not to damage your inflated ego, but you are not the most dangerous thing out there. You have never put me in any real danger except by your absence."

He grimaced. He said nothing for a long moment. "I really was wrong, wasn't I?" he asked softly.

I nodded sadly.

"Is it too late for apologies?" he asked.

"It's never too late for apologies. Forgiveness... may come later."

"I'm so sorry," he said.

I bit my lip and nodded. "So am I."

"Is it any consolation to know that you're safe now?"

"What?" I asked, shock and confusion taking the place of pain.

He leaned in and tried to take my hand but sighed when I flinched and pushed himself to the back of his seat. "Laurent is dead. We found his... remains on our way back." He shuddered slightly. "I don't know what could have done that to him – to destroy him so completely."

I couldn't help it. I laughed. "Oh I expect that was Jacob." I laughed again at the horrified expression that crossed his face at my words, then I continued, "Not that it makes any difference. He wasn't the vampire I was worried about."

"Then who -" he broke of suddenly and I nodded.

"Victoria."

"Why – How do you know?"

"Laurent said that he had come as a favour to her and Jacob said that the -" I couldn't quite make myself say 'werewolves'. It sounded strange enough in my head, I was sure it would sound utterly ridiculous out loud "That he's been having some difficulty with a red-headed female vampire."

"Jacob Black?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Of course you would be drawn to the next most dangerous creatures here as soon as I left."

"Now, what the heck is that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"I'm sorry, it's simply that -" He stopped suddenly and I saw his entire body stiffen, tensing to spring.

"What is it?" I asked, but then I heard what had set him off, or so I assumed. Someone was coming down the hallway to my room. Immediately my mind flashed to Laurent's words, she was quite upset after what happened with James and she was taken with some impulsive notion of revenge.

Then the intruder poked his dark head through the doorway.

"Bella?"

"Jake," I called back, very aware of the tension radiating of Edward's deathly still body.

"I -" then he, too stopped, in mid sentence, his muscles tensing until he was practically shaking. "What are you doing here?" he growled. It took me a moment to realize that the question and the venom in his voice were directed at Edward rather than me and a mix of relief and concern washed over me. While I was happy that he wasn't upset with me and I wasn't pleased with Edward either, I got the impression that this was something more personal and more dangerous. And as much pain as Edward had caused me, I didn't want Jacob hurting him – or vice versa.

"I'm paying a long overdue visit," Edward replied coolly. Most would have thought him perfectly cordial but I knew him and I could hear the cold fury in his voice.

"Oh, is that it? Thought you'd just drop by and say hello? Do you have any idea how much pain you've caused her?" The shaking had grown to shudders that rippled along Jacob's body.

"Yes." I was fairly sure that I was the only one who heard the tiny quaver in his voice. "I was wrong. I'm trying to rectify that."

"So what, you're gonna drag your bloodsucker butt back here and just make everything better, huh?"

My eyes were flicking back and forth between the two of them as the exchange progressed.

"It's slightly more complicated than that. I need to know what's going on with Victoria."

"We don't need your help," Jacob said acidly. "In case you didn't notice, we've been doing fine on our own."

Edward's eyes flicked to me, and then back to the Quileute, as if to say, Yes, I can see that. "I have a responsibility to do what I can."

"So all of a sudden you actually give a damn what happens over here?"

"Ladies present," Edward murmured under his breath.

"You guys got no heart – no soul – just cold calculations. You only 'care' about something when it's convenient – just like with her."

That hurt. It hurt because it was so close to what I had been saying to myself since Edward had left, And it hurt even more because a part of me – a very small part – had not given up, had not stopped loving him.

"It doesn't matter what I say or do now because the truth is that your hate springs from prejudice rather than real experience." Edward was one of the most patient people I knew – doubtless one of those things that came with everlasting life – but I could tell he was reaching the end of it.

"Don't you even think about saying I haven't really experienced your kind. I've been experiencing these fricking leeches since you took off to go frolicking across America with your buddies." The Quileute was shaking violently and his figure was beginning to blur around the edges so that I could almost see it beginning to bend into wolf form. My breathing quickened.

Edward sighed, visibly forcing himself to relax. "Jacob, calm down."

Jacob froze, his hard black eyes intent on Edward's. All the same, it was clear he was not calm in the slightest.

"I did not come here to play dominance games with you, wolf." Then a moment later, presumably in response to a stray thought of Jacob's, he said, "Not here." He rose and smiled, baring his sharp white teeth. "Perhaps we should take this outside."

Finally I found my voice. "No! Both of you sit down." I pressed a hand to my ribs where the yelling was putting too much stress on the damaged bones. Edward's face softened when he saw my pain and he stepped forward to help, but at a look, he did as I asked. Jacob stood frozen, seeming not quite able to decide between distress and anger. An odd noise came from his throat that switched between a whine and a growl and his gaze continued to flick between me, Edward and the empty chair.

"Sit," I said more firmly. He sat but his muscles remained tense and ready. He was still prepared to fight. "Now look, I don't know what's going on between you two and I don't care. But both of you are going to get a grip or so help me I will... do something. I'm not particularly happy with either of you but I refuse to let you tear each other apart – and I refuse to choose between the two of you. So if you want to have this stupid vendetta against each other, that's fine but don't let it affect me or the other people in Forks."

Both were silent when I had finished. Edward looked up at me meekly; Jacob was still shaking with anger.

Then, "I'm not the only one that hurt her and you know it. You were there." Edward's voice was twisted with pain and it had an edge of defensiveness. I could tell that though they hadn't spoken aloud, the conversation had continued.

"Shut up!" I practically yelled, but what was said was said.

Jacob flew to his feet, shaking more violently than before. "You had a choice you fucking leech!"

Edward's eyebrows drew together and he stood slowly. "Jacob, you should leave."

Jacob's voice was choked with anger as he responded. "For her," and he disappeared out the door.

I turned to Edward, my face twisted with angry disbelief. "Well that was a great idea, don't you think?" I shook my head. "You can be a real jerk sometimes."

Edward didn't respond, understanding that excuses would help. I rolled over, turning my back on him.

"Do you want me to stay?" He asked.

"Do whatever you want," I said. But I listened anxiously, and was relieved when I heard him settle back into his seat and his breathing resume its steady, constant rhythm.

The next day – or at least I was fairly sure it was the next day – my father came fairly early to see me. He cried and I assured him that I was fine but the image was harder to maintain when speaking much louder than a whisper caused my ribs to ache. He couldn't stay long, though he clearly would have liked to. He couldn't simply abandon his work.

I was also visited by a larger portion of the Cullen family. Emmet and Rosalie had returned to Africa but Alice and Jasper came along with Esme. Carlisle, who had resumed his position at the hospital, also dropped by. On the whole, they seemed apologetic, especially Esme who had an eerie way of empathizing completely with everyone. Alice seemed mostly happy to be back, and was as cheerful as ever... almost. Jasper... I was never entirely sure what Jasper was feeling. I wondered if it was because of the control he had over them in other people.

All the while, Edward hovered in the back ground, not intruding but not leaving either.

I still was not sure how I felt about him. After what he'd done and the pain he'd caused me, I knew it would be perfectly natural – even, perhaps, expected – that I would be angry, and for the most part, I was. I hated him for shattering my trust and for the emotional pain that he had caused me. But even to me, the emotions seemed false.

I couldn't help but feel relief that he had returned, despite what he'd done. I was fairly sure it wasn't healthy but I was still comforted by the knowledge that he hadn't left yet. Perhaps he'd learned. Perhaps it wouldn't make a difference, regardless of whether or not I could bring myself to forgive him.

Whatever the outcome, I was sure it was a step towards healing.